Will Nashville Be Canceled Due to Lackluster Ratings?

If people only watched really good shows and didn’t waste so much time on garbage TV or “spending time with their families,” Nashville would be the #1 rated show not just in its time slot, but all time slots. Unfortch, the freshman show has struggled to gain the following it (objectively, okay) deserves. So will Nashville be canceled?Not so fast. First of all, according to Zap2It, although the show’s Season 1 Episode 13 came in third in the timeslot, it won the important demographic (18-34 year olds) and it had its third highest ratings of the season. Hopefully things will improve as the show shows off its continued awesomeness in future episodes. But is that the only reason everything’s cool? Nope.TV Guide’s Matt Roush claims there’s even more to it. “These days, the networks would almost kill for ‘lackluster,’ so while Nashville isn't what you'd call a runaway hit, it's doing OK,” he confirms. But more importantly, ABC doesn’t need to rely only on the fact that the show is just hanging in the middle.

“[B]ecause it's going the right way creatively (pulling out of its first-half slump), and like Glee and Smash it has a separate revenue stream with its music downloads and CD releases (which seem to get good reviews, though I'm not a music critic), I'm cautiously optimistic that ABC will renew it.” True, with the amazing songs and excellent performances, it’s not hard to believe that they could make bank off the soundtrack.

Still not convinced? Matt assures, “As our in-house ratings guru puts it when we gather to discuss such things, they can't cancel everything.” Good point. (R.I.P. Ben and Kate.)